Kate Allenton (16 page)

     
“Do you have your medical bag?”

     
“Yeah, why?”

     
“I need some syringes.”

     
Peanut butter forgotten, Tessa swung around with the knife in the air. “Whatever for?”

     
“I can’t tell you. You’ll just have to trust me.”

     
Tessa stepped closer to her, still wagging the knife. It wasn’t meant to be a threat. It was
obvious Tessa wasn’t even aware she was doing it. “I’m going to need more answers than that.”

     
Cathy chewed her bottom lip not sure what answers she could trust the woman with. “The less
you know, the better off you’ll be. I’m afraid that’s all I can tell you.”

     
Tessa set the knife in the sink. Her mind ultimately made up, she gestured to the ceiling. “Is he
aware of what you’re planning?”

     
Lie? Truth? Crap, crap, crap.
“No, and I’d like to keep it that way.”

     
She’d told the truth, she just didn’t elaborate on what she had planned.

    
Tessa gave a slight nod. “How many do you need?”

    
“Just two.”

    
Tessa left and returned moments later. She held out the syringes. Cathy reached for them, and
Tessa pulled her arm back. “I know you’re going
after
Black, but, Cathy, you can’t save everyone.”

    
Whether Tessa was right or not, Cathy
was going to try.
Failing wasn’t an option. Cathy’s lips
tilted up at the corners. “Watch me.”

    
Cathy didn’t wait for a reply; she slid the syringes
out
of Tessa’s hand, not waiting around to see
if Tessa would try to talk sense into her. It wouldn’t
have
changed her mind. There wasn’t anything
that could.

                                                  
Chapter 10

Twenty minutes later, Cathy met a van at the
top of
the driveway. The doors slid open, and
Gracie leapt out and threw her arms around Cathy.
“I’m
so glad you’re okay.”

    
Cathy dragged Gracie back into the van and
closed
the door. “We don’t have any time to
waste.” She glanced at the driver’s seat and grinned.
“It’s
good to see you, General. If you could step
on it, I’ll explain my plan on the way. I’d really hate
for
my pissed-off mate to realize I’m gone.”

    
The General threw the van into drive and glanced back in the rearview mirror. “You think
that’s wise, Ms. Fleming, leaving your protective, pissed-off wolf behind?”

    
Cathy lifted her hand to her stomach to steady
her
nerves. “Yes.”

    
Less than an hour later, they were in position,
and the
plan had been detailed. With the
General’s satellite system
and a general ideal of where to find Black, it hadn’t
been hard. The

infrared had shown them that the compound was being guarded. The only details the damn thing
couldn’t give were what powers and gifts were waiting to catch them off guard. Surprisingly, the
General agreed with her plan. She might even dare to say he was impressed. The right thing to do
would have been to call Edward, to let him know what was about to happen since they were on the
border between his property and Blacks. She wasn’t sure she could trust him and wasn’t willing to
risk it, at least not until she got both vials in her system. If he knew she had the killing agent, there
was no telling what he would do. Removing Black as a threat was her destiny. She knew it. He knew
it and it ended today. Pure determination rippled through her core.

    
All of the Phantoms were already in place when they arrived and dressed in camouflage. Faces
were painted in green and brown to conceal anything and everything they could. The General had
made the decision to attack from the east. Whether it was the right choice remained to be seen.

    
Cathy followed behind her team that consisted of Brody and Gracie. One gun gripped in her
hand and one strapped at her side. The vials and syringes would remain in her pocket until she was
ready to administer the lethal doses that would either kill her or kill Black. Either way, she was taking
that bastard down today, even if she had to deliver him to hell herself. This bastard threatened the

lives of everyone she loved and she’d be damned if she was going to sit by and watch the pieces as
they fell into place. She wasn’t going to sit on the sidelines at wait for fate or destiny to deal her
cards, not anymore; never again.

    
All of the Phantoms were split into teams.
Her
pairing was to ensure that she made it to Black,
after that, it would be up to her. Cathy was
going to have to
use every means necessary to get close
enough to Black to administer the killing blow.

    
Brody gestured toward the trees. “You two
ready?”

    
Gracie and Cathy exchanged a look. The adrenaline in Cathy’s system was pumping, sending
the flow of blood throughout her body, gearing
up the
white blood cells to work overtime.

    
“Yep,” they answered in unison.

    
“Let’s do this.” Brody wiggled his brows. “Stick close.”

    
They made their way through the clearing. The warehouse was in sight, no signs of guards, no
threats on the horizon.

    
Brody stopped them before they broke through
the
clearing.

    
“This isn’t right. Where are the guards?” Cathy whispered. “He’d have guards. We saw them.”

    
“Maybe he hasn’t realized we breached the
territory,”
Gracie replied.

    
Cathy shook her head.
No, no, no, the quietness of the forest was all
wrong. Not a bird
chirping to be heard. No crickets, hell, even the mosquitoes weren’t attacking them. “No, he

knows.”

    
Not seeing anyone nearby, she rose from her crouch and glanced around. “Listen.”

    
Brody stood and turned toward her. The concern was evident in his stormy eyes. “What?”

    
“That’s my point. It shouldn’t be this quiet…this still.” She turned in place, scanning the trees.
“It’s an ambush. He’s more careful than this.”

    
Gracie’s eyes widened. “Shit, we don’t even know where he is.”

    
Cathy pulled the vials from her pocket and got the syringes ready. This was wrong. She plunged
one into each leg and pressed the plungers.

    
“What the hell was that?” Brody demanded.

“Insurance.” Cathy’s vision started to blur, and she could feel the unfamiliar potions soaring
through her system. Death and power, a heady combination that threatened to knock her on her ass.
She swayed, and Brody grabbed her.

    
“Whatever the hell it is, it isn’t good insurance if it takes you out of the game.”

     
“It wasn’t my idea. Her and my dad concocted this plan on the drive over here. Our job is to
keep her alive to administer the final hit.” Gracie replied while Cathy tried to bring her vision back
into focus.

     
Gunshots rang out in quick succession. Men
in trees
descended, secured by ropes, dropping fast
and hard to the ground. Screaming ensued,
and the battle
began. She’d known it. Why hadn’t they
sensed the other men? Not a sound had been made. Cathy tossed the used needles and grabbed her
gun. The puncture wounds burned as the fire and
ice
coursed through her system. Her ability to
focus had barely just returned.

Brody shoved Cathy, and she stumbled out
of the
way, landing on her hands and knees. Her
gun lay on the grass a foot in front of her. Brody
was
fighting a beefy guy with his fists. Neither of
them was using their gift. Gracie fired off one round
and
then two, taking out others that were
headed their way.

     
“Run,” Brody yelled, but his voice barely carried over the chaos. Cathy shoved to her feet and
grabbed the gun before she took Gracie’s arm and
started
pulling her through the thick brush, closer
to the clearing.

     
Gracie slid to a stop and pushed Cathy behind
her.
Four men, four very large men, surrounded
them.

     
“Where do you think you’re going?” The bigger man in front of them sneered.

     
Gracie didn’t even bother with a reply. She lifted her Beretta and shot. She managed to get off
one bullet before the others rushed her. Why wasn’t she using her gift? Why didn’t she just pull on
someone else’s powers?

     
Gracie’s grunt pulled Cathy out of her head just in time to see the shortest of the bunch
advance on her.

     
“You bitch.”

     
Cathy didn’t have time to prepare for the hit before her cheek exploded. The crushing sound of
bones didn’t compare to the exorbitant amount of pain racketing her system. She was knocked to
her knees, dropping the gun as she cupped her face. Her eyes watered, and her vision blurred.

     
The little runts hands wrapped around her ponytail. She grabbed the gun as he yanked her to
her feet. She needed to live long enough to kill Black, and this asshole wasn’t going to stop her. He
spun her around and shoved the knife in her side as she shot off a round from the gun into his
abdomen. His hold on her released as he flew back from the close-range shot and landed on the

ground with the bloody knife by his side. His blood from the shot coated her clothes and her arms
and mixed precariously with the wound in her abdomen.

       
Cathy took a deep breath, inhaling and accepting the rest of Black’s powers. He was closer now,
she could not only sense him; she could feel him
as if he
were behind her breathing down her neck.
His gifts would counteract hers, well…all but
one. She’d fight
him on her own terms now, equal
footing with the killing agent on her side. Her body
no
longer fought for control against the foreign
darkness invading her veins. She’d embraced it,
got a
taste for destruction, and now she had a job to
do before the killing serum attacked her as well.
She
cupped her side, stanching the flow of blood as
she stumbled to the nearest tree. This wasn’t quite
how
she’d envisioned the fight. She needed to be
alive to administer the blow and transfer the liquid.
Her
control and mind were diminishing, the
powers were overwhelming her body.

       
Cathy wiped the sweat from her brow. Her
breathing
was labored as she reached for the wound
at her side and winced. Her fingers came away sticky
and
red. She leaned back against the tree and
closed her eyes. The pain coursing through her body
was
shooting licks of fire through her veins. It
flowed through her blood, touching every part
of her
body until the fire and ache settled into her
heart. Tears mixed with blood ran down her face.
She
slumped against the tree. Her arms and legs
protested even the smallest
of movement.

       
This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen. She’d always thought that when she met the man
of her dreams it would be a fairytale, not a nightmare. And this was a nightmare. Gunshots rang
nearby. Her friends were being attacked. Ethan was coming. She was as certain of it as she was of
her own name. There was no time to waste, lest another one of her friends get hurt or, god forbid,
die.

       
Gracie landed by Cathy’s side. She leaned around the tree trunk before turning back. “Are you
ready?”

       
Cathy nodded. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

Gracie nodded. “Let’s go end this. I’ll keep you shielded with Brody’s force field until you’re
close enough to kill him and then I’ll give the signal.”